Get Major Doses of Pattern in This Artist's Vibrant Richmond Townhouse

Marissa Hermanson
·7 min read

Much like her abstract paintings, Lindsay Cowles’ Richmond home is layered with textured strokes of color. The townhouse in the historic Fan District provided a backdrop for the artist turned textile and wallpaper designer to experiment with how pattern plays out in the home.

From apartment building to single-family residence, the turn-of-the-century townhouse had several chapters, and Lindsay and her husband, Thomas Arrington, decided to highlight the curious nooks and details of yesteryear rather than erase them with sheetrock. “Embracing those quirks is an important part of the renovation process,” Lindsay says of the transformation that included finishing the basement, as well as a kitchen overhaul that was prompted by a leak.

Graphics were introduced into the family room by applying Lindsay’s vibrant Maya Belgian Linen to a Verellen chair and the Roman shades. "Pattern doesn’t have to be everywhere, but you do need some pattern in a room,” Lindsay says.

For four years Lindsay worked with Little Rock–based interior designer Jill White of Jill White Designs to slowly update the old townhouse. It started with the front parlor and blossomed into a head-to-toe makeover of the 5,000-square-foot home.

The duo struck up a friendship when Jill started gussying up her clients’ homes with Lindsay’s artwork and line of Technicolor textiles and wall coverings. Appreciating Jill’s sense of style, Lindsay tapped her for the interior revamp.

Lindsay Cowles put on her artist hat to create a custom pale pink paint for her front parlor walls by combining two Farrow & Ball colors. “It couldn’t be too beige or too purple,” she says. “It had to have the right amount of gray. It was really tricky.” Jill designed the living room around Lindsay’s Blue Grey Rug, layering in chartreuse draperies, Kelly Wearstler swivel chairs, Oly Studio lighting, pattered armchairs, a custom mirror, and one of Lindsay’s abstract paintings.

At the time, Lindsay was preparing for a big rug launch and wanted Jill to design her front parlor around one of the pieces. “There was nothing in it except for the rug,” Jill says. “The first thing I went for were the chartreuse draperies and bench.”

During the transformation, preserving the townhouse’s historic character took priority, and Jill drew inspiration from Lindsay’s energetic aesthetic for the interior trappings. With two little boys, it was important to Lindsay and Thomas that the house felt comfortable and cheery.

With two small boys and dogs, Lindsay couldn’t be too precious when decorating. She used performance fabrics and had all of her other fabrics and rugs treated for stain resistance. “With a family, you just have to do that stuff,” she says. Lindsay mixed a custom lilac wall color that is trimmed with Farrow & Ball Hague Blue. Arteriors’ chairs are upholstered in her Navy Chartreuse Belgian Linen.
A warm orange Ford B wall covering by Lindsay is named for one of her sons and encompasses the boys’ bathroom. Accent pattern is incorporated subtly through the black hexagonal Clé tile and the natural cane webbing on the custom blue vanity. The brass wall sconces are by Tech Lighting and the studded camel leather mirror is by Made Goods.

“We wanted to stay true to the style of the house, but make modern design choices. Lindsay has great style. The reason she called me was to take it to the next level.” Jill accentuated the townhouse’s interior architecture by adding embellishments like modern molding and board and batten, and highlighted original features like the old coal-burning fireplaces and a classic staircase. To create tension, the interior designer dressed the interior with modern elements like sculptural furnishings, contemporary artwork, and unexpected color combinations, along with a riot of pattern. “I love that juxtaposition,” Lindsay says. “It does make for a more interesting home.”

The first project tackled during the renovation was finishing the basement, and transforming it into Lindsay’s office. The subterranean space is wrapped in her Witching Hour wallpaper. A vintage rug from Morocco grounds the space. A Lee sofa is upholstered in the abstract artist’s Black White Inverse Belgian Linen and topped with her Jackson Belgian Linen pillows.

Lindsay also used the spaces as a kind of personal lookbook to exhibit the unique ways in which you can apply her lively patterns to the home. Cruising Lindsay’s Instagram feed, you’ll find images of the townhouse, demonstrating how to use color and graphics to compose a layered, dynamic space.

In the home, Jill applied pattern in nontraditional ways to highlight architectural features, create movement, and transform awkward nooks into dramatic vignettes, so rooms didn’t feel homogenous. “You have to think outside the box. It can be used in so many ways.” Lindsay says of pattern. “You can wallpaper a room in its entirety, but you don’t want to wallpaper every room in its entirety.”

In the dining room, a vintage credenza topped with Mr. Brown lamps is flanked by vintage chairs from interior designer Kelly Wearstler's Beverly Hills home. Lindsay created a gallery wall to highlight some of her favorite pieces by artists Holly Addi, Addie Chapin, Susan Carter Hall, and Angela Chrusciaki Blehm. “That gallery wall went through many iterations,” she says. “It’s about finding the right place for them and creating the right tension between the art.”
The starting point for the dining room was Benjamin Moore Black Berry walls. The deep blue-black provided a dramatic backdrop that allowed patterns to leap off the walls, ceiling, and floor. Lindsay’s Navy White Grasscloth was used to create a faux tray ceiling accented with Farrow & Ball Calamine paint. Jill pumped up the volume in the dining room with the artist’s Blue Wool Silk Rug and Porter Teleo draperies, Oly Studio dining chairs, a Mr. Brown London honed Carrara marble table, a Julian Chichester light fixture, and a mirror by Made Goods.

In the dining room, wallpaper is encased with molding to create a faux tray ceiling. Set behind glass, wallpaper is used as backsplash on the wet bar. And behind the bed in the primary suite, a vibrant pattern is framed like artwork on the wall.

Walls coated in a soothing Benjamin Moore Gibraltar Cliffs pair well with Lindsay’s blue and purple Caribbean Grasscloth wall covering. “The wallpaper over the bed is the same color as the walls, but just a little touch of pattern,” Jill says. The painted photographs are by artist Allison Hobbs. The Room & Board Architecture Bed is topped with Kelly Wearstler blue pillows, a black-and-white Schumacher bolster, and a Rebecca Atwood blanket. Custom nightstands are topped with Kelly Wearstler lamps.
During the renovation, a closet was created for Thomas off the main bedroom entrance. To make the cumbersome space work aesthetically, a hidden door was built into the board and batten, and neighboring walls were covered in one of Lindsay’s murals. The artist recently released a line of Art Deco–inspired mural wall coverings; this one is dubbed Jill to pay homage to the Arkansas interior designer.
In the powder room, a soothing blue Indigo Ocean Alta Non-Woven wallpaper by Lindsay sets a calming tone. A custom vanity is bejeweled in Nest Studio pulls, and Circa Lighting sconces flank a custom mirror.

Since the duo was heavy-handed with prints, they created balance with visual voids so spaces don’t feel overwhelming: a calming yin to the Technicolor yang. These interludes come in the form of neutral furnishings; walls cloaked in soothing hues or covered in Venetian plaster; and clean, uncluttered embellishments.

With the home dressed top to bottom in pattern, the eye is drawn up to the ceiling, down to the floor, and from one room to the next. You can’t help but follow the chromatic breadcrumb trail.

A leak led to an unplanned kitchen renovation. Floors were refinished in Rubio, which gave the wood a contemporary matte finish. Lindsay originally wanted to paint the cabinets oxblood red, but after happening across Farrow & Ball's Bancha green, she changed her plans. “I immediately felt like that was the right color, and it just brought nature in,” she says. The leather and brass stools are by Noir.
Green from the kitchen cabinets continues into the breakfast nook. The banquette is topped it with cushions upholstered in Lindsay’s Onyx Belgian Linen. An Eero Saarinen tulip table is paired with Noir chairs; a framed peacock feather and artwork by Catherine Booker Jones hang on the wall.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest